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CUNNINGHAM, G. V. HOUSSART 82; W. MAY.

TRAMWAY.

Patented Apr.17,1883-.-

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(No Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet 2. R. S. CUNNINGHAM, O. V; HOUSSART 8: W. MAY.

4 TRAMWAY. No. 275,808. Patented Apr. 17,1883.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Trice.

ROBERT S. CUNNINGHAM, OF LONDON, CHARLES V. HOUSSART, OF 72 LICH- FIELD ROAD, BOW, COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, AND WILLIAM MAY, OF 20 BROUGHTON STREET, BATTERSEA, COUNTY OF SURREY, ENGLAND.

TRAMWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,808, dated April 17, 1883. Application filed July 8, 1882. (No model.) Patented in England December 19, 1881, No. 5,556.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be itknown that we, ROBERT SIEvERs OUN- NINGHAM, of 122 Gannon street, in the city of London, iron merchant, CHARLES VINKELES HOUssART, of 72 Lichtield road, Bow, in the county of Middlesex, metal agent, and WIL- LIAM MAY, of 20 Broughton street, Battersea, in the county of Surrey, engineer, subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tramways; and we do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanyin g drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention has for its objects economy in the cost of constructing tramways and increased facilities for renewing the wearing parts thereof without disturbing the roadway to so great an extent as is necessitated with some of the hitherto proposed systems of constructing tramways.

In order that the nature of our said invention may be fully understood, we will now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to the several 0 figures on the annexed sheets ofdrawings, the

sameletters ofreference indicatingcorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of our improved tramway on an imaginary ver- 5 tical plane passing between the two rails, thus cutting the tie-bars, but showing the rail itself in side elevation. Fig. 2 represents a plan of the said tramway, a portion of the road being pitched with stone. (Not shown in Fig. l.)

The tramway-rail consists of two principal members-an upper and a lower one. The upper member, A, is composed of a head, which may be either plain or grooved, and a vertical rib extending downward. Thelower member,

4 5 B, consists of a bar of T-section inverted, the vertical ribs of the upper and lower members coinciding in the same plane and abutting edge to edge. In some instances we connect together'the ends of the bars A and B, respectively, by suitable fish-plates and bolts-such,'5o for example, as are shown at the points 1) p p in Fig, 1; or the ends of the upper and lower members or bars may be arranged, if preferred, in such a manner as to break joint. The latter construction will be more readily understood on reference to the side elevation, Fig. 3, wherein the point of juncture in the upper bar, A, is near the letter q, and does not coincide with thejunction in thelower bar, B, near the letter 4'. In otherinstances, instead of fish-plates and bolts, we employ an indirect method of connecting longitudinally the ends .of the upper bars, A, in such manner as represented in Fig. 3 near the letter 8, our object being to avoid as far as possible disturbing, on occasion of renewal, the paving or surface of the road wherein the tram-rails are laid. This method of construction consists in forming or attaching lateral projections or catches C on or to the lower bar, B, under the ends of which projections lateral projections D, attached to the upper bar, A, project longitudinally. Similar projecting pieces or looking plates, 0 and D, are applied at intermediate positions in the lengths of the upper and lower 7 bars, as shown in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 3 near the letter t. Figs. 3 333 and 3 show our improved tram-rail as it appears in section on the lines a u, r r, and q g, respectively.

In erecting our improved tram-rail for use, havingfixed the lower bar, B, in position, we slide the upper bar, A, horizontally upon it until the projections D, attached to the upper bar, engage with the projections 0, formed on the lower bar, with the effect that the upper 8 bar becomes secured to and upon the lower bar both vertically and laterally.

In order to compensate for the distance the upper bar has been moved horizontally, as above described, we introduce a short length, E, thereof, as shown in Fig. -3, near the letter q. Where such compensation-pieces occur we apply fish-plates, which not only embrace the ends of the upper bars or upper and lower bars, Fig. 1 as the case may be, but serve in con- 5 junction with bolts to secure the filling-in or compensation piece of the upper bar rigidly in position. At these points it will be necessary 7 pieces.

on occasion of renewal to open the road in order to remove the fish plates and release the compensation-pieces previously to withdrawing the upper bars sufiiciently to disengage the locking-plates. Forthis and other reasons it is therefore desirable to reduce as far as possible the number of these short compensation- VVith this object we arrange the locking-plates O and D on the lower and upper bars, respectively, .in such a manner that some of the upper bars, A, must be moved or slid in one direction and others in the opposite direction, in order that their lateral projections or catches may engage or disengage, as the case may be, with the corresponding projections or locking-plates on the lower bars. In Fig. 1 the bar A on the left of the center has to be moved toward the right before it beoomesdisengaged from the lower bar, 13, and the bar A on the right of the center has to be moved toward the left before it is released. Thus with reference to Fig. 3, it the joints in theupper bar be arranged alternately in the manner shown, near the letters 8 and q, respectively, there will occur one compensationpiece and one set of fish-plates for each two lengths of rail. Similarly, if every alternate two lengths of upper bar be arranged to slide in opposite directions, there will occur one compensation-piece and one set of fish-plates for each four lengths of rail, and so on.

Fig. 4 represents a transverse section and Fig. 4 a perspective view of a tramway constructed according to our improved method. A B A B are'the tram-rails, bedded on concrete or other suitable foundation and maintained at their correct relative distance from oneanother by a tie or thrust-bar, F. This bar may be of any known pattern applicable for such purposes; but we prefer to employ a flat bar notched at each end, as shown at G G, Fig. 4. Notches, such as E, Fig. 3, are. also formed in the vertical portions of the bars B for receiving the ends of the bar F. This tiebar standing on edge interferes but little with the stone pitching of the roadway; or, if'preferred, the tie-bar F may be made somewhat deeper and notches, such as J, Fig. 4, formed inits upper edge, with the object of clipping the vertical ribs of the upper bars and steady in g them laterally in position in the same manner as the notches G clip and hold the lower b'arsfin position relatively to one another.

In some instances we employ an angle-iron distance-bar the better to withstand any thrust that may tend to impair the accuracy of the gage. F, Fig. 5, represents such a distancebar, and similar ones occur in Figs. 1 and 2.

We prefer to employ steel for the upper bar,

A, of our improved tram-rail and iron for the lower bar, B, thereof,. by which means a comparatively small quantity of the more expensive material is used for those portions of the tram-rail that are most subjected to wear.

Further, those portions can be readily re- 6 moved and renewed with less disturbance of the paving or surface of the road in which the rails are laid than is usually the case.

Having nowdescribed the nature of our said invention and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, we would have it understood that we do not confine ourselves to the precise details hereinbefore described, and illustrated on the accompanyingdrawings;

neither, on the other hand, must it be supposed that we claim as new the method of constructing tram-rails in two parts, the one part consisting principally of the rail-head and the other part performing the subordinate function of supporting the first-named part; but

What we consider possesses novelty and utility, and therefore claim as the invention secured to us by the hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent, is-

1. The tram-rail described, composed of a head, A, with web attached, a base, B, with web attached, and the catches O D, fixed on the two parts, respectively, all combined and arranged as herein specified.

2. In a tramway, the short length E, in oom- 9o binatipn with two adjacent rail-heads, A, a continuous base, B, and fish-pieces with suitable fastenings, as set forth.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

n. s. CUNNINGHAM. CHAS. v. HOUSSART. WILLIAM MAY. 

